Archive for the ‘DUKBO’ Category
things to do!
for an expanded description of the October 13th Kill Van Kull tour, please click here
for an expanded description of the October 20th Newtown Creek tour, please click here
coloured hills
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are lots of things to do this weekend, lords and ladies. To begin, or end with- depending on ones perspective- this is the closing weekend of the Newtown Creek Armada. A fun and public art project by Laura Chipley, Nate Kensinger, and Sarah Nelson Wright- the show is found at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant’s Nature Walk.
check out details and hours at the armada site.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On Sunday, and this comes verbatim from newtowncreekalliance.org-
“Sept 30 – Water Quality event with North Brooklyn Coat Club and Friends
The Capitol to Capitol by Canoe expedition lands at NBBC, and a water quality discussion ensues! The event will feature presentations from a number of local organizations including the Newtown Creek Alliance, Riverkeeper, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and New York City Water Trails Association. We will also be celebrating the arrival of the Capital to Capitol by Canoe expedition in NYC. A project of the Canadian Wildlife Federation, this 1800 kilometer paddle will travel on rivers, lakes, canals, harbours and bays from Ottawa to Washington D.C. in a 34 foot voyageur canoe.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Also going on this weekend- Saturday is “Field Trip Day” in Greenpoint, a free event.
Calling all urban explorers, history buffs, and lovers of Greenpoint. Drift with us through the culture and history of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, a tucked away neighborhood sculpted by its maritime and industrial past.
Field Trip day is dedicated to the art of the wander, and discovery through exploration. Come and see Greenpoint for the first time or with new eyes: for on this one day she will reveal herself through the Field Trip app, on-site installations, challenges, and quests.
Discover where colored pencils came from, get up close and personal with one of the most polluted waterways in the US, and take down your opponents in a dramatic restaging of a Civil War ironclad battle! Together we’ll find hidden places, discover secret histories, and learn skills long forgotten.
There are no right choices, no wrong turns – but there are treasures to be uncovered just out of sight.
Click here for more info and registration
effective radius
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A lesser sabbat on the great wheel of the year, at 10:49 this morning, New York City will pass through the fall equinox. Today, the day and night will oppose each other equally, and from now until March, darkness will rule as relative to light. Summer ends, and the harvest time is visited upon all that walk beneath the ever fainter emanations of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Before long will we all be sitting before tables of bounty, gazing upon roasted meats and other oven baked fare. Just the other night, a filthy black raincoat was removed from its summer hook, and a humble narrator again filled it. Chill is the night, which grows ever longer. Soon shall we all feast, and learn new ways to laugh and revel and enjoy ourselves, as we give our so called “thanks”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Nepenthe is found in this season, as we slouch roughly toward Samhain and the Yule, as it’s the time of tales told. Stories of goblins and werecats, ghosts and ghasts, and the hidden world of the occultist will soon be readily revealed. On the wheel of the year, this is the start of the spooky time- when farmers fields become the property of crows and ravens, and odd occurrences abound- during the endless nights.
something alarming
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another one of the little mottoes which one such as myself offers “it’s not good, it’s not bad, it just is”. Time spent wandering around the vast human hive, with it’s teeming multitudes and aspirants, has taught me that it makes little sense to adjudicate the values of others. That being said, whilst on a pastoral stroll across the rolling landscape of Calvary Cemetery, your humble narrator found himself in Section Five.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the shot I was seeking, the ennobled Kosciuszko Bridge, as seen from the vantage of Review Avenue and Laurel Hill Blvd. and from atop the high walls of Calvary. Coming to this spot, one noticed something odd- out of place- nearby.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Upon the ground was some sort of fruiting vine, set behind a small line of high grass and small shrubs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Struck by the ideation that some accidental seeding might have taken place, unnoticed by the grounds crew, I looked around a bit.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s when I discovered that somebody had planted a little garden, here in an ancient cemetery.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Nearby, there were grapes growing as well.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s not good, it’s not bad, it just is. It’s also the sort of thing which really makes one question his own sanity, and thank all that’s holy that I’m able to photograph this as it is exactly the sort of story no one would believe. Tangential thoughts occur- speculations on the morbid nutrition enjoyed by these plants, suppositions about the water table they drink from (which is VERY much Newtown Creek), and other pleasant notions torment and tantalize. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it just is. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it just is. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it just is…
lurking spark
– photo by Mitch Waxman
…Back in session…
So, whilst kicking the dust around in DUKBO a couple of weeks back (preparing for the recent Poison Cauldron tour), your humble narrator found himself on the eastern side of the Kosciuszko Bridge. Needing to clear my head of the myriad horrors witnessed on the west side and under the bridge, and to find a pack of gum on sale somewhere, my scuttling was directed toward Beadel Street with the eventual goal of crossing under the BQE- the technical border of Greenpoint and Bushwick.
The Real Estate Industrial Complex view of this border is somewhat different, of course, and to them- Williamsburg’s eastern border is probably Lake Ronkonkoma.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Moving in my normal fashion, this scene was noticed, but I’m afraid that I startled these fellows somewhat. Can’t blame them, imagine what they saw, a shabby monster covered in Creek dust. They were building these odd bug cars which seemed to be constructed upon the chassis of a golf cart or small security vehicle.
Weird enough to notice, I waved and got some shots of them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Of course, the second I put my camera away, that actor who plays the “Mayhem” character in the Allstate Insurance ads popped into view, but I was already moving on to other locales. A tour needed to be fleshed out!
The Newtown Pentacle 